Just Another Hawthorn Love Story
by Vamay
Summary: A short love story of Rory and Prim. A request from WhenDayMeetsDark! This takes place between the first two books. Prim is in love with a boy from town, and Rory is going out of his mind. He loves her, but being a teenage boy, he doesnt know what to do!
1. The Run Away

**Rory**

Miss King brings her ruler down on the desk, and I snap out of my day dreams. I try and answer the question on the board about mass production of coal, but I'm obviously wrong when the class bursts into laughter. I try and act calm, but every inch of my body is shacking with embarrassment. The teacher hushes the class, and continues on with how trains ship the coal all over Panem… and… and… _Snap_! The ruler comes back down inches from my face.

"Rory Hawthorn," she says in an angry sigh. "Pay attention!"

"Why don't you teach me?" I yell back. Why is the world turning on me? Why don't they understand? I grab my books, and rush out of the classroom. I make it out to the hall and come around the corner before I sink to the ground. I slam my head against the wall, and hope that any memory of her is gone.

I feel a hand on my arm, and I'm ready to spit at the teacher, or whoever it is. I wouldn't care if it was even Thread. It would be worth the whipping for the hell I'm in. But it isn't any of them, it's Prim.

"Are you okay, Rory?" she asks, but maybe she is just a good person that she makes sure that everyone in District Twelve is fine. But, even for that one second, I feel like I mean something to her.

I nod shyly, and she stands up and walks back around the corner. I get on my hands and knees to watch her go, only to be struck down with disappointment. She reaches for another boy's hand, and he intertwines their fingers before kissing her hair and taking her books.

I slump back down, and take in my disappointment.

_That should be me, holding your hand_, my mind tells me. But I have no drive to go after her. I have no motivation. She's with him, who cares. I'm just her little Seam friend who will never be more than that. How am I supposed to let her know with him around?

_I love you Primrose Everdeen, and always have? _No, too cliché.

I decide to go home instead of facing my class again. Mom is home, cooking while Posy is sick on the couch again. The measles, I think. Mom turns from the sink, but only for a moment with a look of disappointment. I drop my backpack, which makes Posy jump. She cries, in long wails, and mom rushes to her. Now, she looks at me tired, and angry. I've never seen her like this. I never thought I could make her see me like I'm some sort of monster.

I run out of the house even faster than when I left school. The woods are my safe haven. I never came under the fence without Gale before, but he wouldn't understand how I feel. At least the girl he's in love with isn't sure about the other choice either. With Prim, she loves the town boy and I'm just the stupid Seam boy. I couldn't even get the question right about coal production! Hell, I'm going to be working with it in less than five years! Why the hell can't I do anything right? I kick a rock, and scream in pain before falling to the wet ground in a huff. Mockingjays, and robins spring from their post in the trees with my sudden outcry.

I sit in my spot for hours. Gale should be getting home, and Vick is probably wondering why I'm not home to play with him like I promised. When I want to hope that Gale won't come out to find me, I hear a rustling to my right. I take off into the woods, even though Gale wouldn't make a sound if he was following me, though, after work, he was too tired to even help mom make dinner like he did before.

The night was creeping closer and closer, but the full moon illuminated the path. I run when I hear something, and run even faster when I hear nothing. I don't want to see anyone right now. Not even the girl that means the most to me. I reach a clearing with a mossy floor and fall down exhausted. I have no idea where I am, and no idea how to get home. I slap my forehead in frustration. How could I be so stupid? What idiot would disappear into the woods with no plan of action? Stupid!

I deicide to make a fire, but it's weak. The wood is damp from the change from summer, to autumn, and I only have two matches in my jeans pocket which I took from Gale's game bag on a lazy Saturday morning. These things were rare, but I didn't know how else to survive the night. Gale refused to teach me, and Katniss only made promises that never followed through.

I lie down on the ground, and watch the stars glitter past. With no food, and the small warmth of the fire, my eyelids close. But, unlike most nights at home on my cot in the living room, I only have one thing on my mind.

_I hope the bears get me._

* * *

**A/N: At first this was going to be a one-shot, but I decided to make it into three parts. Hope you like it, and review please.**

**(Dont own the Hunger Games btw)**

**Here's the banner :) I'm very proud of it! :D http:/lalaland-is-the-best(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/RoryxPrim-Banner-174852141**


	2. Find Him

**Primrose**

I wake up to the sound of breathing in the corner of my room. Even though no one has lived here before us, this big house still gives me the creeps. I can't get over the creeks the stairs make, or the dripping water in the kitchen sink because mom never turns the faucet off all the way. Even though our home back in the Seam had plenty more problems with it, they were nice, familiar noises. Ones I grew up with. The crackling wood in the hearth, or a moaning patient on our own kitchen table, even the clawing of buttercup on our front door was welcoming. I don't see why Katniss tried to drown him though. I frown at the memory, and the breathing quickens when I sit up in bed. I curl my fingers around the lamp next to me, and bring it down on the intruder. Hard.

I scramble out of bed, and flip the switch next to the door. My cheeks flush when Vick is holding his head on the floor next to my bed.

"What was that for?" he complains, and gets up with his knees shaking. I hold him by the arm, and bring him down to the kitchen to get him ice.

"I thought you were a robber or something."

"District Twelve may be bad, but I don't think anyone would try and rob your house," Vick whispers. "Their too stuck up to do something like that."

"How'd you even get in?" I ask, sounding more and more like my sister. Always asking questions, and hardly ever getting an answer.

"Katniss left her window open," he grins. I'm shocked that he wasn't beaten with a lamp twice, but I decide to let it go.

"Why are you hear?"

"Rory's gone," he swallows, and looks at his toes. Rory's _gone_? I always thought he seemed different when I started seeing James, but I never thought he'd leave. By the look on Vick's face, he's been gone a long time, and no one knows where he is. "Gale went to go look for him a couple hours ago, but he wasn't anywhere," he says. "Or in any of his traps," he giggles.

"Well that a good thing," I smile at the child. "But what can I do about it? You know I can't go in the woods."

"See, mom knows he likes you," he pauses to look at my face. Like the natural teenage girl that I am, my cheeks flush at the thought. I never imagined that Rory would be interested in someone like me. He liked adventure, and discovery, while I enjoyed the comfort of home. "Anyways," Vick shakes his head, and resumes his explanation. "I think you need to be the one to find him, I mean, that's what she thinks, since he came home from school early all upset. Maybe he doesn't want Gale, me, mom, or even Posy. He needs you," he smiles. I find it hard to see his reasoning behind me going and finding my friend.

"Why?" I wonder out loud.

"He sees you with James. He can be an idiot sometimes but he isn't blind."

"He's not an idiot," I whisper automatically from the days when I liked him but he never noticed me. Maybe that's why I admire Peeta so much. He waited eleven years for the girl of his dreams, just to be heart broken, and he's still trying. Well, maybe he will once he accepts Katniss' apology. I liked Rory since I was ten, but the girls I told, told me he was an idiot. A dumb boy from the Seam that would never make it in life. They were wrong. All of them were wrong. "There's nothing I can do in the middle of the night."

"He could die!" Vick yells, and I clamp my hand over his mouth before he starts to cry. "You know about the animals out there as much as I do, Prim. He could be killed."

"Okay, okay," I say. "Just let me get my coat, and don't you dare tell my sister I did this." Vick nods with a triumphant smile, and goes to the door to wait for me. I slip on an over coat, and some old boots from home before following Vick out the door. We walk silently into town even though no one is awake. "Do you think we should get help?"

"Rory won't come out if you bring James," Vick says. My heart aches for James, but something are meant to be, and some aren't. I leave town behind, and we start running once we hit the Seam. We pass the Hawthorn house were all of the light are still on. Hazel is not only yelling for Rory, but Vick too. I glare at him for a second, and he shrugs. "She would have never let me go."

We pass my old house before reaching the hole in the fence. Unlike most of the time with Thread ruling the district, the fence isn't buzzing, and I slip under it. Vick doesn't follow me. I shrug, and take off into the woods. My pace slowly decreases when utter darkness over comes me. When I step on a twig, and it snaps, I'm reminded of all the terror movies on our new T.V. How the damsel in distress was always captured before her knight in shining armor arrived.

"Rory?" I whisper. No one answers. There's a rustling, but all I find is a mockingjay nest full of eggs. I want to tell Katniss what treasure I've found in the woods for her, but I want the birds to grow. To be born and live in the woods, free. I smile at the eggs, and touch one gently. The mother returns, and shoos me away from her babies.

I turn to the trail, and keep my pace even though I'm terrified and all I really want right now is my mother.

"Rory!" I scream instead of whisper. This time something moves, and stands up. I smile when I see the outline of a boy with a messy head of hair.

"Prim?" he answers. I smile wider when I recognize the cracking, slightly high pitched voice of my best friend. I run for him, and launch myself into my arms. He puts his arms around my waist, and rests his head on my shoulder even though he's a head taller than me.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he whispers into my shoulder.

"You're the one that ran away," I point out, and rest my own head against his chest. The rhythm of his heart is fast, and he smells like pine, and moss. I pull away, and look up at him. His grey eyes shine in the moon light, and I suddenly forget the world and lean in until our lips touch. Rory takes in a quick breath, but kisses me back, and lifts me at least a foot off the ground.

"What about James?" he asks when we pulls away. I smile a devilish smile which makes him wince.

"Who's James?"


End file.
